Chatter on Internet Regulation Heats Up Ahead of Spring G8 Summit in France

Various European governments are heating up talks these days that are focused on regulating certain aspects of the Internet. Whether we are talking about issues related to privacy, speech, or content, data governance is being elevated on the international stage to the same level as such issues like terrorism, global warming, trade, and currency. In a lead up to the upcoming G-8 Summit this week in Deauville, France, French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, has called upon member states to adopt measures on Internet regulation related to privacy rights, digital copyright enforcement, and child protection. As to be expected, the adoption of the proposal was met with mixed reviews. Private sector representatives voiced that technological solutions should first be considered before government regulation, since technology could move faster than governing bodies. However, government officials reminded the private sector representatives that “governments are the only true representatives of the will of the people” (quote from Mr. Sarkozy).

Meanwhile, across the English Channel British lawmakers are expressing concern over how “new age” media outlets, like Twitter and Facebook, are able to bypass on a technicality British super-injunctions that prohibit “old school” media outlets from reporting the names of famous individuals alleged to have engaged in nefarious affairs. The latest example has to deal with soccer star Ryan Giggs’ attempt to prohibit British newspapers from reporting on an alleged affair he had with a contestant who appeared on the hit TV show “Big Brother.” Typically, requests for super-injunctions are made by public figures or companies eager to halt the spread of tabloid-fodder stories. Once the party wins a super-injunction, they are generally identified by random unrelated initials. In Mr. Giggs’ case, he was identified over 75,000 times on Twitter posts as the person having an affair with a Big Brother contestant, Ms. Imogen Thomas. While regular media outlets, like British newspapers, were prohibited from reporting the names of both Mr. Giggs and Ms. Thomas, Twitter posts were not subject to the jurisdiction of these so-called super-injunctions.

What remains to be seen is whether it is actually possible to regulate Internet content, or rely on self-regulation to ensure that proper governance protocols are being administered. From a historical perspective, paradigm shifts are necessary when major revolutions occur throughout time.